It was a decade ago during Lent that author Lauren Winner was visited by an angel, unawares.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, it was my priest,\u201d\u009d said Winner, who teaches Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School. \u201cI have learned that people in my life often tell me what I need to do during Lent. … It\u2019s kind of like hearing from angels.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Although the voice wasn\u2019t miraculous, Winner thought it would take a miracle to follow her spiritual guide\u2019s advice. The challenge was deceptively simple: Could she give up reading during Lent?<\/p>\n
At the time, Winner was working as book-review editor for Beliefnet.com and studying for her doctorate at Columbia University. She was a writer, editor and student and, naturally, was surrounded by books day after day.<\/p>\n
How in the name of God was she supposed to stop reading?<\/p>\n